Our Brand
Our brand is built over time by all that a person sees, hears and experiences about our organization, both in-person and online. Everything we say and do on behalf of the USO is part of our living brand.
Our Vision
The USO is the way Americans support all service members and their families.
Mission Statement
To strengthen the well-being of the people serving in America’s military and their families.
The USO Brand
Since its founding in 1941, the USO — a private, nonprofit organization — has served the people of the United States military and their families throughout their time in uniform — from the moment they join, through their deployments and as they transition back to their communities.
Although the USO is a congressionally chartered organization and works in close partnership with the Department of Defense (DOD), the USO is not part of the federal government.
For more information about the USO’s activities, please visit USO.org.
Platform Articulation
Humans have very few needs. Among them: food, water, shelter. But we also need Companionship. Community. Compassion.
We all need to know that we are not alone. Even the strongest among us needs someone there for them. Someone who understands and supports them. Someone who cares.
That’s why the USO is with each and every person in the U.S. military, and with all of their family members.
Physically and emotionally. Wherever they are. Because they’re not just a sailor, soldier, airman, Marine, guardian, coastie, or Guard member. They’re not just a military spouse or a military kid. They’re a person. A person with needs.
And we’re with them.
USO. For the people who serve.
Brand Creative Recommendations
As the USO brand is brought to life through creative development, we should strive to maintain these consistent aspects.
Key elements
- Focus on stories of individuals, family units, or small groups of friends. Use first names for people, instead of rank and last name.
- Frame creative to center the person(s) with the need, not the USO.
- Emphasize challenges that are broadly relatable, but intensified in military life.
- Communicate the USO’s role in meeting the need. Depending on the execution, this may be a nod to a category of core programs or, if space allows, more detailed and compelling information.
- Prioritize most motivating and happily surprising aspects of USO mission delivery:
- Care Packages – especially when delivered in places and moments that demonstrate the USO’s unique access to military locations and situations
- Spouse support programs (including Transitions)
- Child support programs
- Centers – both quantitative and qualitative aspects
- Quantitative: over 250 locations around the world; a presence on military installations, at airports, on ships; in remote destinations and at the heart of military family communities.
- Qualitative: Welcoming to all people serving and their immediate families; Kind volunteers and staff provide a friendly smile, a shoulder to lean on and a listening ear; Visitors can grab a snack, a cold drink, or a cup of coffee. They can pick a comfortable spot to sit and relax. They can find community at a gaming station, over a board game, or watching a movie.
| Key language | |
|---|---|
| We’re with… [insert first name or names] | Use to identify the protagonist(s) of the human story that is being told and assert the USO’s support. |
| For the People Who Serve | Brand tagline. Only use in context where the association with the USO is very clear, such as locked-up with USO badge. |
| Are you with them? (Alt. “Are you with him?”, “Are you with her?”) | Call-to-action that is used only when “We’re with…” is used to set up the story. Purposefully challenging prompt that people can’t really say “no” to. |
| Join the mission | Invitation to become part of the collective of donors and supporters that make the USO mission possible and that is “with” all people serving in the U.S. military and their families. |
| Non-Government. For people, not profit. | Phrasing for optional language that can be used to make the nonprofit status of the USO clear. |
| Thanks to your donation, the USO is with all people serving in the United States military and their families. | Phrasing that can be used when asking for donations. |
Approach to visuals
- Emphasize humanity and emotion by showing faces of people in the military and their families.
